Pony tail holder and method of making the same



July 19, 1960 cs. N. BOLINGER PONY TAIL HOLDER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 31, 1958 Lin.

INVENTOR GEORGE NOEL BOLINGER ATTORNEY United States Patent PONY TAIL HOLDER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME George Noel Bolinger, Shelbyville, Ill., assignor to Sta- Rite Ginnie-Lou, Inc., Shelbyville, III., a corporation of Illinois Filed Jan. 31, 1958, seem. 712,388

Claims. oust-41 This invention relates to a pony tail holder and meth- 0d of making the same.

:The hair style commonly known as a pony tail has become very popular in recent years. It is the' common practice to hold the hair and then wrap rubber bands around the hair close to the scalp to confine the hair at that point, the hair hanging free below such point Some types of decorative holders for pony tails have been developed, but these usually are relatively impracticable or expensive to make.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel type of pony tail holder comprising merely two strips of material secured together in an unusual way to provide two general portions, one of which is purely functional for holding the hair in position, and the other of which provides a pleasing decorative feature.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which may be made of any suitable-flexible material, preferably a fabric and more particularly velvet, which is so formed as to provide upper wing-like elements which afford the decorative feature of the device, and lower similar elements which are adapted to be wrapped around a strand of hair close to the scalp and secured together at their ends so as to hold the hair confined at the proper point. i

A further object is to provide such adevice wherein,

generally'speaking, two strips of material are so secured to each other intermediate their ends that whentheend portions of the strips are spread, two of the ends will extend upwardly and outwardly to give the device a decorative feature, the other two ends extending downwardly and outwardly and being provided with snap fasteners or other securing means whereby such ends may be wrapped snugly around the hair adjacent the scalp to secure the device in position.

A further object is to provide a novel method of making a pony tail holder, which involves very simple successive steps of superimposing two strips of material and stitching them in a particular manner to form the finished article except for the provision on two of the ends of the material of the necessary means for securing the device in position.

More specifically, a further object is to provide a method of the character referred to, which involves merely the steps of superimposing two elongated rectangular strips of material in registration with each other and then stitching across the material intermediate its ends at an angle to the longitudinal edges of the strips other than a 90 angle, whereby the opening out of the ends of the strip of material will present upper diverging ends and lower diverging ends for the purpose referred to above.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device in use;.

Figure 2 is a view of the device looking at the face thereof which is exposed at the back of the head, the device being opened out flat;

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the opposite face of the device;

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the device with the parts in the positions that they will assume in use; and

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view showing the meth od of assembling the elements of the device.

Referring to Figure 5, the numerals 10 and 11 designate, as a whole, upper and lower elements of the device whichgenerally may be considered to be strips of material. In actual practice, each of such strips is formed of an elongated strip bent intermediate its ends to provide layers 12 and 13. This is preferably done, for example, where velvet ribbon is employed having selvage edges, the doubling of the material providing outwardly facing'pile surfaces for a purpose to be described. It will become apparent, however, that the device may be made of any suitable material such as attractive suede leather, and that only one strip of material of a single thickness need be employed for each of the elements 10 and 11.

In the practicing of the method, the strips 10 and 11 are superimposed as in Figure 5 in registration will each other. This constitutes the first step of the method, and the second step of the method comprises stitching along a line 14 angularly with respect to the device and preferably closer to one end than to the other. will be provided at opposite sides of the line of stitching 14 two shorter ends 15 and two longer ends 16, the former providing the decorative feature of the device and the latter forming the attaching ends, as further described below.

After the device has been assembled by the single line of stitching referred to, the ends 15 and 16 are opened out as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and due to the angular line of stitching 14, the ends 15 will diverge upwardly While the ends 16 will diverge downwardly. it is preferred that the device be subjected to another step in the method to cause it to lie flat, it being apparent that if the stitching 14 is wholly relied on to form the device, the ends '15 will tend to swing upwardly from the positions shown in Figure 2. Where the material employed presents such a tendency, the device is opened out after the application of the stitching 14, and a relatively short line of stitching 17 is applied across the folds in the material, that is, across the line of stitching 14. This extra line of stitching tends to hold the device fiat and improves the appearance of the device in use and facilitates its handling when applying the device to the hair.

After the device has been completely formed in the manner stated, suitable connecting means is attached to the two ends 16, such as the complementary sections 18 and 19 of a snap fastener indicated as a whole in Figure 4 by the numeral 20. In use, as described below, the ends 16 are wrapped as a loop 21 around the strand of hair.

Operation As previously stated, the device may be made with each of the layers 10 and 11 formed of a single thickness of material which may be preferably attractively colored rubber, for example, or other material of an attractively formed surface. The device also may be similarly made of decorative suede leather. In practice, it usually is preferred to form each of the layers 10 and 11 of double strips of velvet with the pile of the material facing outwardly. Such an arrangement, when velvet is employed, is desirable for two reasons. In the Thus there first place, the pile of thematerial on the faces of the ends 16 toward the observer in Figure 3 will form antifriction surfaces tending to hold the device in position on the hair. The opposite sides of the ends 16 and the outwardly'facing sin-facesof theends will be rendered more attractive by the showing of thepile of the velvetfabric.

The device is completely formed upon the application to the ends 16 of the fastening means employed, shown in the present instance as being the complementary-elements of-a snap fastener. Other forms of fastening means may be employed, such-as hooks and eyes, and the plurality of fasteners may be employed to adjust the device to strands of hair of different circumferences.

In applying the {device it merely is necessary to wrap the ends 16 around the hair as shown in Figure l, whereupon the fastening means employed may be connected together. Where snap fasteners are used, it is'preferred, of course, that the extremities of the ends 16 be overlapped as shown in Figure 4 and then snapped together so that no ends of the material will project downwardly below the loop formed by wrapping the ends 16 around the hair. Where the device is providedwith anti-friction surfaces surrounding the hair, such as the velvet pile referred to or rubber, it is not necessary to use anyother means except the present device to hold the hair in position. Where rubber is employed, of course, or a stretchable fabric containing rubber bands, it is not necessary to use a plurality of fastening elements for adjustment purposes since the ends 16 under such conditions may be stretched as necessary to properly surround. the strand of hair. The ends 15 present a butterfly appearance on the hair and render the device very attractive in use.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present device is extremely simple in construction and highly economical to manufacture, not only because of the simplicity in construction but also because of the minimum steps necessary in the practice of the method to form the completed device.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may be made asdo not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pony tailholder comprising a:pair of stripscof flexible material each having longitudinal edges and each provided with a straight fold intermediate its ends at an acute angle and extending to said longitudinal edges of both strips, the folds in the two strips being substantially equally spaced from one end of the strips whereby, when said folds are arranged in registering contacting relation, said ends of the strips diverge upwardly to form decorative wing-like portions, and the other ends of the strips diverge downwardly to be wrapped around the strand of hair, a line of stitching passing through said folds from edge to edge of the strips to attach the strips together at aid folds, and means adjacent the extremities of said other ends of the strips to secure them together when said other ends of the strips are wrapped around the strand of hair.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein at least the surfaces of said other ends of the strips which contact the hair have anti-friction characteristics to hold the device in position on the hair.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 provided with a line of stitching through said strips intermediate the ends and transversely of said first-named line of stitching.

4. The method of making a pony tail holder which comprises superimposing in registering relation two strips of'flexible material of generally corresponding shape and size having parallel edges, stitching across the strips to connect them to each other along a line at anacute angle to one of said edges, opening out the strips of'material by folding them along the line of said stitching, and

stitching through the strips intermediate the ends and References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Moll Nov. 28, 1911 Flatto Jan. 11, 1938 

